Welcome to My Climate Contract
It is up to us to make our community and planet a better place!
Welcome to My Climate Contract
It is up to us to make our community and planet a better place!
Our life is 100% dependent on the air we breathe, the water we drink, and all of the life we are surrounded by...
John Doelman
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Welcome
This is going to be our site, our place to see all of the latest news and ways we can all contribute to helping get the planet back to its natural state of symbiosis.
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Additional Information
We have created a world that is based on consumption and an economy that is based on increasing that consumption from day to day and year to year. This consumption is not sustainable.
The ecology of the planet has checks and balances based on survivability of all species, from bacteria to the enormous Blue Whale. When a particular species grows out of balance, disease or some other balancing effect happens. We are a species, like it or not. Most likely, this planet was not built for the kind of human numbers we have. Certainly, it was not built for the number of consumers we have. We have become slaves to consumption. We believe we have to have more and better. We believe we have to keep up with the neighbors. ALL of us are in that same boat, regardless of how we believe.
The richest countries in the world have the highest carbon footprints in the world, per capita. A sustainable level of carbonper capita is 3 tons per year. We hear, in the west, that China and India are the biggest culprits due to their high populations and high use of coal for energy. China at 7.41 tons per capita has some work to do. Because we import a lot from there, some of that is on us. India at 1.77 is below the sustainable level, but with efficiencies and greater usage of renewables they can move way ahead of the curve. The United States? We are number 10 in the world at 14.24. We have a long ways to go. Can we do it? Is the inevitable sacrifice worth it?
When we look towards government and business to guide us we are giving away our power. Would it be nice if we could create a policy that everyone would step behind without fail? Sure, but we aren’t asking for a national ice cream day. It isn’t going to happen. The blame for where we are doesn’t rest in the hands of our government or businesses, it rests in our own hands. Business has nothing if we don’t buy what they are selling. Government exists because we support them. We have to make business change by only buying products that make sense. We can do this.
By creating this site, we intend to give you ideas on how you can help recreate a sustainable world for all living things, not just us. We can’t literally hold your feet to the fire, only you can do that. We can just give you the tools to make good decisions.
Ways to Save: This is just a beginning
Reduce winter heating and raise inside summer air conditioning by 2 degrees
Each degree lower in the winter can save you from 2 to 10% on your bill, which also reflects overall energy savings. This is certainly relative to the temperature you keep your thermostat normally. If you keep it at 72° and drop it to 71° it will save less than if your normal temp is 65° and you drop it to 64°. The greater the difference between inside and outside, the greater the cost to change the inside temperature. The reverse applies to Air Conditioning. If you are using a heat pump, it is important to not fluctuate the temperature significantly. Doing this while making your home more efficient is a win.
Reduce beef consumption by 25% a year and refuse beef from reclaimed rainforests (Brazil especially)
It takes 441 gallons of water for each pound of cattle meat. The carbon footprint is 14.8 pounds per pound of meat, much of it is methane. 6.7 million acres of forest is cleared annually for grazing, most of it rainforest and other biodiverse land. We can reduce this a lot.
Try to eliminate products that include Palm Oil and imported Soy.
Most of the land cleared for Palm Oil, which is ubiquitous in all kinds of consumable products, is biodiverse rainforest in Asia. Soy is the same problem in a different place and 77% of all soy grown goes into feed for human consumed animals, you guessed it, mostly cattle. Much of it comes from Brazil. Reducing the market for these will preserve biodiversity and we will be healthier.
Bring reusable bags to stores
Self explanatory. Besides the fact that they are rarely recycled and are a fossil fuel product, they are single use and billions end up blowing into the waterways of the world.
Reduce lawn size by 10% a year, replaced by native vegetation that doesn’t need watering.
A nice green yard requires poison and lots of water to keep it green. It also requires a huge amount of energy intensive maintenance. It is not biodiverse. Some of the biggest polluters are golf courses.
Start an organic garden
Organic means not pesticides. Combined with composting your waste, your soil will be good and healthy, leading to tasty veggies that don’t need shipping. There is a lot of online information to help you.
Replace ALL of your lightbulbs with LED’s when they die.
This will save better than 50% of your lighting costs and, because they last 5-10 times as long, will have a lower material cost as well. Please don’t take one incandescent bulb and replace it with 3 LED bulbs, that defeats the purpose. This has certainly happened.
Plant 3 native trees a year.
Trees offset carbon emissions, increase oxygen, are natural coolers, and promote biodiversity. What more can you ask for?
Stop buying imported fruits and vegetables
The farther they are shipped, the greater the carbon footprint. The more we buy local, the greater the variety that will be available.
Drive the speed limit always
Just driving the speed limit will have enormous fuel and emissions benefits, as well as reduce collateral damages like a smaller death/injury rate, and insurance costs.
Next vehicle
Assuming you are driving an ICE vehicle now, the next car you purchase will be a ULEV or zero emissions car that gets at least 40 MPG average. Let's all get to EV by 2035.
Put solar panels on your home
Besides the carbon and money savings, you will have a power source that is storm resistant.
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